1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to reclosable thermoplastic bags. More particularly, the present invention relates to reclosable thermoplastic bags having multiple compartments.
2. Background of the Invention
Reclosable thermoplastic bags are commonly used in food packaging. The bags are generally made out of a plastic film and have two side walls that are folded at the bottom and sealed at the sides. The bags typically have a reclosable fastener at the top of the bag, such as, for example, an adhesive, a wire tie, or a plastic zipper such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,727, issued to Dais et al.
The consumers that use these bags often need more than one bag at any given time. Therefore, bags having more than one compartment have been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,844 discloses a compartmented pouch. However, the closures in the pouch of the ""844 patent are displaced relative to one another, making it difficult for a consumer to close one compartment without squashing the contents of another compartment. Furthermore, the ""844 patent describes a shared wall for the compartments, which restricts the available volume inside the compartment. Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,536, which describes a resealable compartmented bag. However, the ""536 patent describes the compartments of the bag as being sealed together along the bottom edges of the compartments, thereby restricting the available volume inside the compartments.
It would be an advance in the art of compartmented bags to provide a multicompartment bag in which all of the compartments can be closed simultaneously but opened independently of one another, and in which the available volume inside the compartments is maximized. Moreover, improving the ease with which the individual compartments can be grasped and manipulated would be advantageous.
According to one aspect of the invention, a storage bag is provided comprising a first compartment, a second compartment, and a center lip joining the first and second compartments. The first and second compartments both include interior and exterior walls joined along first and second edges and a bottom edge. The first and second compartments having a mouth at a top edge. The center lip extending from the interior wall of the first compartment to the interior wall of the second compartment. The center lip extends above the top edges of the first and second compartments. The first and second compartments and the center lip being imperforate.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a reclosable thermoplastic container having a plurality of compartments is provided. In one aspect, the present invention is a multicompartment reclosable thermoplastic bag comprising at least two compartments, each compartment having a top, a bottom, side edges, and two opposing sidewalls joined at the side edges and the bottom, each compartment having a closure across the top thereof, the closures being arranged back-to-back, the closures being aligned such that the center points of each closure are less than xc2xd inch (1.27 cm) away from each other, wherein the compartments are attached together proximate the tops of the compartments, and the bottoms of the compartments are free from being attached to each other.
In another aspect, the present invention is a process for making a reclosable thermoplastic bag having a plurality of compartments, the process comprising the steps of: folding a sheet of film in accordion fashion into at least four panels a, b, c and d, the panels being in series so that panel a is adjacent to panel b, pane b is adjacent to panel c, and panel c is adjacent to panel d; applying a closure element to each panel such that all of the closure elements are aligned; and sealing the sides of the four panels to form a bag having at least two compartments, so that the closure elements form a closure to close the compartments to the outside.